Thursday, 17 May 2012

I'm sure many of you know how to make bunting but there are lots of different methods so I thought I would share mine.

Usually I'm one for cutting corners - if there's a quicker way to do something I'll do it! But for this project I wanted to do something the right way for a change, which I think is why I loved the finished product so much, I was proud of my hard work and dedication - this literally took me weeks to finish! (because I have a short attention span so had to do it in lots of little sessions.)

OK, on with the show!

The first thing I did was cut out my triangles, I measured 6 inches across and 6 inches down from that line to get my first triangle, then used that piece of fabric as my template (OK so maybe I took one short cut, I should of cut out a cardboard template, and I wish I did, I use one now and it's a lot easier!)

Once all my triangles were cut out I cut some wadding in the same shape and tore it into thin layers. (It's should come apart easily.)

Next I layered two triangles with the right sides facing inwards then wadding on top and sewed.

Start from one of the top corners, work your way down to the point, lift your presser foot, twist and work your way up to the other corner. (NOT what I did on my first triangle, which was go down one side, finish off then start down the other side to discover the fabric is bunched up at the point!)

Turn all your triangles inside out and iron, and you have your flags : )

For the binding I used 3 metres of ribbon (1 inch width), I've recently discovered that bias binding works better but I was still learning at this point.

So what I did was iron the ribbon in half length ways, slot each flag into it, then sew along the open edge.

I used 13 flags with a 3 inch gap between each one.

The finished product!!

These are all the pieces of bunting I've made so far, which I sold to Coco's

Thursday, 10 May 2012

Bunting, bunting, bunting . . . if you say the word too many times it loses all meaning!

So I know I haven't posted anything new in a while and that's because I've gone bunting crazy!!

I made this bunting last week planning to post a tutorial. I loved the finished product so much and at risk of sounding big headed thought it was good enough to sell, so that's what I've been trying to do. I made a few more samples and on Tuesday visited every craftly, gifty or boutique shop in Hereford (there are alot!) The first shop loved it and ordered six pieces so I was on a real high but unfortunately nowhere else ordered any :( However they all said they liked it and a couple of places wanted my card so that if anyone asked about bunting they could give them my details. That was excited, apart from the fact that I don't have a card. Also alot of places asked if I have a website, which I did't (apart from this but that wouldn't really be helpful when trying to sell bunting!)

So anywho, to cut a long story short, I've been setting up an etsy shop, ordering business cards and saying the word 'bunting' a ridiculous amount of times!

I need to make five more pieces of bunting by Monday (working all day Friday and visiting my Mum for her birthday all day Sunday!!) so won't be able to post the tutorial until next Tuesday, then normal service will be resumed!

Monday, 30 April 2012

This dress was so easy to make using a jersey fabric, I've made a couple like it now and people can't believe how easy it is once I tell them the method.

First measure around the largest part of your body (for me this is my bum!) add one inch for seam allowance and a few more inches depending on how loose fitting you want your dress (I added four inches in total to my measurement).

Cut the width and height (depending on how long you want it - add around two inches on the length you want).

Lay out your fabric and fold the width in half then pin he open side.

All the measuring and cutting is the hardest part so you're on the home straight now (not sure why I used a sports metaphor!)

Anyways, sew a straight stitch all the way down the open edge then sew again with a zigzag on the outside, as close to the original stitch as you can - this is a very important step, jersey fabric doesn't sew too well and my first attempt at this style resulted in a small hole appearing around the bottom area - very embarrassing when it's pointed out to you my your father-in-law!!

But adding the zigzag keeps everything together!

Trim off the excess fabric.

Keeping the stitching on the outside, twist your fabric so the seam is in the middle. Place a top over the fabric and use as a guideline to cut to the bottom of the sleeves and pin across the top to the neck line. Not sure if that made sense, hopefully the picture will help!

Sew where you have pinned, turn inside out and you have a dress! It will look like a sack when you first put in on but it will be fine once you add a waist belt!

Depending on the fabric you've used you might need to add some hems but the fabric I used (a woolly jersey fabric) doesn't fray and I quite like the rolled up edges it produces.